Tyler Braun's Blog, page 4

What Are People Looking For in a Church?

Throughout much of my time as a pastor I’ve been viewed as a young leader who should have insight into what “young people” want from a church. What makes people come to a church? What makes them stay? Whether I have any helpful insight on these questions remains to be seen, but I have been asked them too many times to count.

These conversations have picked up following a sermon I gave at my home church titled “The Intergenerational Church.” I have noticed churches are becoming more homogeneou...

Our Created Design: The Pressure of Parenthood

Within the creation account of Genesis is the striking conversation God has within His Being: “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). God who is relational in nature, loving and serving the other within Himself—Father, Son, and Spirit relating and caring for each other—from this foundation of who God is, He creates us. And we are created to reflect the same relational nature of God Himself.

One of the ways we see this created design in us is through the early stage...

The Reluctant Leader

My own story and call toward pastoral ministry is an interesting one because I’ve never felt 100% assurance of it being the perfect fit. I have always approached pastoral ministry with some level of reluctance. The question of “If not me then who?” has always been motivation enough for me to make the leap to moving that direction, however, and it has continued to be the motivating question that keeps me moving forward.

I am 110% certain there are more qualified and capable people that could d...

Embracing Limitations

Back in 2016 I was an outspoken critic of the Christian support behind Donald Trump, who was at the time running to be the Republican nominee for the Presidential election that year. Following the election I made a conscious choice to no longer address political topics related to the current United States President through a public forum. This has been, at times, quite difficult, but most often it has been a great relief to hold myself to stay silent.

Since then I’ve been criticized as having...

Fuel for The Way

This is the final post in a series walking through Ronald Rolheiser’s book Sacred Fire, which profiles what he calls the 2nd or mature stage of discipleship with Jesus.

The first two posts look at two separate pitfalls common during this stage (pride and the temptation of a 2nd honeymoon), and the previous post looked the struggle of this season of life being disillusionment.

READ PART ONE | TWO | THREE

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In the previous posts we’ve established that the 2nd stage of discipleship, roughly from...

When God Is Hard to See

Note from Tyler: This is a continuation from previous posts inspired by Ronald Rolheiser’s book Sacred Fire. Be sure to check out parts ONE (on pride) and TWO (on the temptation of a 2nd honeymoon) along with this one. We’ll finish this short series next week. 

Previously we explored two pitfalls of what Rolheiser describes as the mature stage of discipleship. Now we turn our attention to the difficulty this stage of life presents over and over. 

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The last stretch of months have been the mos...

The Honeymoon Temptation

This post is a continuation of a series of posts built on Ron Rolheiser’s book Sacred Fire, which focuses on what he describes as the 2nd or mature stage of discipleship with Jesus, often entered into during the ages of 25 to 45 or so.

Read PART ONE.

Today we’ll look at another pitfall in this 2nd stage of discipleship following last week’s look at pride and faux humility.

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Often what delivers you into the stage of mature discipleship is the willingness to enter into life-long commitments. T...

Giving Your Life Away

Over the next few weeks I’m going to post several things connected to Ronald Rolheiser’s important book Sacred Fire. I had been told by several it’s an especially helpful book for people in their 30s and 40s, and since I fall into that category I gave it a shot. Turns out my friends were right. With most of my generation either well within this stage or just beginning it, it was a timely read.

The book as a whole is focused on what he describes as the 2nd stage of discipleship to Jesus, or as...

Beyond Polarization and Division

It’s all too easy to navigate life with others with an “Us Vs. Them” mentality. We are quick to judge and divide based on race, religion, politics, and much more. Using the ministry of Jesus as his framework, Dan White Jr. teaches about the disruptive power of giving affection to those on the other side of the aisle.

Dan White Jr. is a pastor and church planter from Syracuse, New York whose ministry emphasizes building bridges instead of living into the polarization of our society. His person...

Redeeming Wanderlust

Rather than a life of Instagram worthy wanderlust, becoming a follower of Jesus is a humble embrace of a pilgrim path. On this episode Michelle Van Loon walks through what it looks like to follow Jesus while maintaining a status of an exiled wanderer in the world.

Michelle is a wonderful writer and storyteller with helpful theological insights on how our restlessness can lead us closer to Jesus.

Listen to the full episode below:

You can also find this episode anywhere you listen to podcasts,...